Improvement in roof covering and sheathing



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM H. KERSHAW, OF WIDNES, ENGLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN ROOF COVERING AND SHEATHING.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 204,899, dated June18,1878; application tiled April 23, 1878.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I,WILL1AM HENRY KER- sHAW, of Widnes, in the county ofLancaster, in the Kingdom of England, timber-merchant, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Roof Covering and Sheathing, ot'which the following is a speciication:

My invention relates to roof-coverings of wood, sawed or cut i'ntopeculiar forms, so as to form a lapping arrangement.

Figures l and 2 show the simplest form, in which Fig. l shows athree-inch plank sawed so as to cut out the roong-board without waste,the two spare pieces of B and O being available as inch boarding forother purposes.

Fig. 2 shows it as placed in position. In this A A are therooting-boards; D, longitudinal piece of hoop-iron, useful, but notabsolutely necessary; E, the rafter below, into which the roofing-boardscan be notched, if desirable; but I prefer it as shown.

Fig. 3 shows a slight modiiication, of rather stronger form, and capableof lying neatly on the rafter or the pui-lin, forming a smooth ceilingfor the room below. The groove in this case is planed out.

Other'forrns slightly varying can be used without departing from theprinciple ot' my invention, which consists in each board overlapping theone below it, and forming a catch for the one above, and a verticalstop, to prevent the chance of water running up by capillary attraction,or the force of wind, and leaking in over the edges of the boards.

Figs. 4i and 5 show another slight variation in form.

This form ot'joint can also be applied in the direction ofthe pitch orinclination of the roof. rlhis is shown in Figs. 6 and 7. In these, Fig.7 shows a section of rooling in which the slabs are either planed out toshape or cut by a saw-mill of my own i'nvention, in which oase twopieces of wood are sawed, as shown in-Fig. 6, G H.Y D D in Fig. 7 arepieces ot' hoop-iron, and can be inserted or not, as found desirable.The strips D, inserted as shown, give the joints additional securityagainst the entrance of moisture, especially at the points where theends of the boards abut against each other, and in the event of theboards warping or cracking at theedges.

Figs. 8, 9, 1() show different ways of covering the joints formed at theabutting ends of the roof-boards. The joints represented in Figs. 2, 3,and 5 are used between the edges of the boards, but, being inapplicableat the ends of the same, the other joint shown .is necessary at thosepoints to render the root1 complete. I prefer the plan shown at Fig. 10,where a piece ot' sheet-iron, F, ts into grooves in the ends of theplanks, and the whole joint is then run in with the asphalt G2. Figs. 8and 9, however, show a layer of asphalt or other composition coveringthe joint, and a covering of sheet-lead or other suitable materialnailed on over all.

I yam Taware that rooting-boards intended to extend lengthwise up anddown the rootl have been hitherto provided with overlapping lips, theform of which was such that the boards could not be used transversely onthe roof without retaining' water in the joints.

It will be observed, on referring to Figs. 2, 3, and 5 of my drawings,that the boards therein represented are specially adapted to be usedtransversely on the roof, directly across the rafters, without allowingwater to enter at the joints.

I am also aware that it is old to cover the joints betweenrooting-boards with sheet-metal strips; but I am not aware that any onehas hitherto employedthe metallic strips D between the overlapping andinterlocking edges of the boards in the manner shown.

y I claim as my inventionl. A wooden roof consisting of a series oftransverse boards, having overlapping interlocking edges, substantiallyas described, and shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 5, whereby moisture isprevented from lodging in the joints.

2. The overlapping and interlocking boards of a tapering form incross-section, as represented in Fig. 3, adapted to present a continuoussmooth under surface or ceiling when laid transversely on the roof, asshown.

3. In a wooden roof, the combination of boards having overlappinginterlocking edges with met-al stripsD inserted between and concealed bysaid edges, substantially as shown.

W. H. KERSHAW.

Witnesses:

EDWARD G. CoLToN, JOHN H. SLOANE,

